Refugee WP7 app by Team Hawk in Imagine Cup

Imagine Cup is an incredible event where a number of teams battle it out with ideas that use technology to help make the world a better place. This is the first time it has been held in the US and it's a rather special one with a team from Iraq developing a Windows Phone 7 app that registers and tracks refugees in camps around the world. Being the first team from Iraq to enter the event, the trio have overcome vast challenges to be where they are today. Enji Issa Zain-Alabdin, Kosar Osman Muhammed and Choman Jalal Mustafa (who all study at The American University of Iraq – Sulaimani) are the brains behind the development.

Team Hawk (as they're known) has the goal in speeding up the process where refugees are registered to help get aid to them more efficiently. The app will securely register personnel in a database on a domain owned by the team.

"By using this technology we get rid of the old way of registration which was through paperwork. We believe that paperwork requires time, money, and many employees. And paperwork is not secure, because papers can be lost, burnt or even altered. But in our application the information is securely transferred to the database and we avoid the risk of losing information by securing the database using login credentials. By using our application, we hope governments or NGOs can help refugees and provide humanitarian aids as soon as possible."

Moved by their work thus far? Why not take a few minutes out your time to vote for them? We're not quite sure where part 2 of the interview has got to, but we'll keep an eye out. This project is one of many by a number of developers from a variety of backgrounds and countries all coming together for the good of the world. Check out all the entries here and vote for ones that you believe really make a difference. Voting closes in two days. The winning team will win the People's Choice award and receive $10,000.